11 guilty in massive gang trial

MEMBERS of one of Manchester’s most notorious gangs have today been convicted of a string of crimes including the brutal murders of a young dad and a mourner at his wake. The trial marked the end of a massive organised crime investigation sparked by six months of appalling gun violence which claimed the lives of two young men from Longsight.

Police and prosecutors believe the conviction of the killers and their cohorts has dealt a body blow to the Gooch gang, whose members have dealt drugs, carried out violent robberies, and fought fierce gun battles with underworld enemies for nearly twenty years.

Gang leader Colin Joyce, 29, of no fixed abode, was convicted of killing father-of-two Ucal Chin, 24, who was shot dead in a daylight ambush in June 2007, at Anson Road, Longsight. He believed the young father to be a member of rival gang, the Longsight Crew.

The following month Joyce and fellow gang leader Lee Amos, 33, of no fixed abode led a drive-by hit squad that targeted mourners paying their respects to Ucal at a wake on Frobisher Close, Longsight.

Tyrone Gilbert was killed after the gunmen sprayed the street with bullets after pulling up in three high-performance cars with blacked out windows.

The 23-year-old left behind three children and a pregnant partner.

Joyce and Amos’ accomplices in the Gilbert murder were crack cocaine and heroin dealers Aeeron Campbell, 25, of Withington, Narada Williams, 28, of Fallowfield, and Ricardo Williams, 26, of Moston.

All five were found guilty of the murder of Tyrone and the attempted murder of Michael Gordon who was shot in the leg in the same incident.

Joyce, Williams, Williams and Campbell were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life. Williams, Williams and Campbell were convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

The six month trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that detectives used mobile phone technology to link the guilty men to the Chin and Gilbert murders. And a series of special legal powers was used by the Crown to shatter the wall of silence which has hampered similar investigations in the past.

Narada Williams has been found guilty of an additional charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life for his part in a shootout with rivals from the Doddington Gang at Wilcock Street, Moss Side.

Kayael Wint, 20, of Old Trafford and Tyler Joel Mullings, 18, of Urmston have been found guilty of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life for their part in the same gunfight.

Their fellow gang members Hassan Shah, 25, of Longsight and Aaron Alexander, 23, of Gorton, have also been found guilty of possession of firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Ricci Moss, 21, of Denton, has also been found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Amos was also charged with the murder of Ucal Chin. The charge will lie on file after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

An eleventh man, Gooch gang driver Gonoo Hussain, 26, of Longsight, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at an earlier hearing.

They will all be sentenced this afternoon and tomorrow.

For an even more detailed look at the trial, the gangs involved, the victims and more exclusive news about the massive investigation, see tomorrow’s M.E.N.